IPL 2025: Mitchell Starc and Nitish Rana produce box office hits on IPL Sunday

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There is a lazy elegance about left-handed athletes. And, in cricket, too, they can look attractively different. On an action-packed Sunday in IPL 2025, the second week of the T20 extravaganza in India, it resulted in lesser traffic snarls in many cities and lower footfall in malls.

After all, with Mitch Starc on view in the afternoon and Nitish Rana smashing the ball like hell under floodlights, IPL mania is now peaking.

Through the week, there may be a slight lull in the IPL viewership, what with the madness of daily life for most people leaving time for little else. Yet, if the broadcast figures are true, the IPL is soaring, just like movie Chhaava where Vicky Kaushal outshines the rest.

And, now, with Salman Khan's Sikandar also smashing the box-office records with fresh release Sikandar, the IPL also needed to produce something different.

As the Aussies would say, mate this is Mitch's day, watch out. In Vizag, Starc showed he is still hungry and ready to devour the opposition. It does not matter if Mitch Starc is playing for Australia, across any format of cricket or the IPL, he is a match-winner.

This writer was fortunate to watch Starc in the IPL 2024 final where Kolkata Knight Riders were too good for Sunrisers Hyderabad on a muggy May night in Chepauk, Chennai. For those fans who said it was too sticky and muggy, Starc did not complain. Bowling just three over and clinching two wickets for KKR, the tall Aussie had sealed the deal for KKR in the IPL final. One of those victims was Abhishek Sharma.

Fast forward to the Sunday afternoon match against SRH, Starc has migrated. The price he earned at the IPL auction last December was less, by almost Rs 10 crores compared to the deal he had with KKR. All that did not matter, as Starc need to get into the thick of it, back to business as the say.

Playing in Vizag in the afternoon heat is not easy. But then, Aussies know how to play in the heat and also generate heat. The Starc one saw on Sunday was menacing. Steaming in on a hot afternoon, the six feet and six inches tall master of speed, swing and movement was fired up. To say that he bowled his heart out for Delhi Capitals would be an understatement as he took for 5 for 35, bowling 3.4 overs.

There have been many fast bowlers in the IPL who have caught the eye. Yet, what looked different on Sunday was how Mitch pitched it up and did the damage with the white ball, where he looked unplayable.

There is a joke, Travis Head, the superstar of Aussie cricket and even SRH does not like to take first strike. It did not matter, as Starc still got him for 22 runs, caught by KL Rahul. Then came the next big wicket of another SRH batter, Ishan Kishan, out for 2. This was getting just too much but Starc soldiered on, with another painful blow as he cleaned up Nitish Reddy for zero, caught by Axar Patel, the new DC skipper.

For those who have watched Sunrisers Hyderabad over the years, Sunday seemed like an early sunset, what with Starc also cleaning up the tail, where Wiaan Mulder and Harshal Patel also faced his wrath. There is a zing about the Delhi team now with Axar Patel. To lead from the front is not just about scoring or taking wickets. Axar was a livewire on the field and the high standards he has set as a fielder and pouching catches marks him out as someone blessed with skills and acumen. Surely, for Starc, the migration from KKR to DC has been happy.

At 35, he knows he is still relevant, even if his price tag has been cut. The Aussies are professional and do not mind all this. Instead of sulking, Starc showed how his experience of several years can throttle the rival batting attack. Just imagine, what kind of a headache SRH captain Pat Cummins is now dealing with.

As the sun set on Vizag, it was time for action in Guwahati, the second home of Rajasthan Royals. RR have been under pressure after an indifferent start to their 2025 IPL campaign. The first bad omen, perhaps, was mentor Rahul Dravid hurting his ankle and now needing a wheelchair to even make the pitch inspection. On Sunday, he had no qualms about going to see the character of the 22 yards and then decide. Shrewd Jammy moved Nitish Rana up the order to the No. 3 slot, and what followed was mayhem.

Nitish Rana is another left-hander who does not hesitate in creating an impact early on. For him to forcefully fly out of KKR and embrace the royal reception at RR, he is happy. Once considered a blue-eyed boy of Gautam Gambhir, Rana was on fire. He had no hesitation in attacking. The beauty about the IPL is batters are ready to attack and do it in a systematic manner.

There is no wild swing of the willow but a sustained onslaught. The damage Nitish Rana did to the reputation of R.Ashwin and the rest was massive, hammering 81 runs off 36 balls. He lit up the Guwahati skyline with breathtaking strokes.

Again, the left-handed Rana knew what was expected from him as he collared the waded into the CSK attack with impunity. A few more knocks like this, Nitish Rana will be taken of even by the selectors. He has played before for India, and this run-burst against CSK has grabbed headlines, total 'paisa vasool.'